Charity
by Kenderkin
Summary: SG1 takes on two young Lieutenants, the only surviving memebers of SG12 after a mission gone wrong. Chaos ensues.
1. Chapter 1 In the Line of Duty

_**Chapter 1-In the Line of Duty**_

Staff blasts erupt all around the two girls as they crest the ridge in front of the Stargate. Before they can begin descending the other side, the taller brunette suddenly stumbles and falls with a cry of pain. She tumbles down the steep hill, quickly overtaking the only other surviving member of her team who is dashing down beside her. She barely has a chance to take a breath at the bottom of the incline, much less begin trying to untangle herself, before her teammate hauls her up by the top of her standard-issue black combat vest.

"Parker, let's go! Can you make it to the gate?" The smaller girl supports her friend as they hobble toward the DHD at the fastest pace Parker can manage.

"I don't know, Faxon, in case you hadn't noticed I've been _shot._" Her tone is bitingly sarcastic, but despite this the two are making good time. Faxon lets her go as they reach the DHD and Parker sags against it, a grimace of pain on her face. It quickly dissolves into annoyed exasperation as a whole unit of Jaffa warriors appear on the horizon. Parker grabs the P-90 strapped to her chest as blasts start raining down on the two again; Faxon glances up in alarm, distracted in the middle of dialing the gate. Parker yells at her over the ruckus of screaming soldiers, weapons' fire, and the slow mechanical whirl of the giant Stargate grinding into action behind them.

"I'll cover you, Faxon, just _get that gate open!" _Without waiting for a response she drops to one knee, ignores the roar of pain, and begins spraying her weapon at the line of warriors now gaining the ridgeline. The front row falls, but the rest just run over them in waves, far too many for one machine gun to handle. Just when Parker is beginning to worry about ammo, the gate explodes with it's patented 'kawoosh' and Faxon grabs her arm again.

"I think maybe now would be a good time to _leave!" _She heaves her comrade up and tugs her toward the gate, flinching as another staff blast sizzles by and blows away a small plant only a few feet from her.

"You're telling _me," _Parker mutters, still firing as Faxon drags her to her feet. "Oh god," are the next words she breathes, as the world tilts dangerously to the side and her vision starts to darken. Glancing down, she notices an alarmingly large pool of blood and gore where she was kneeling. "That is certainly going to be a problem," she whispers, then she turns all her attention to the girl pulling her incessantly toward the big shiny pool of light in front of her. After tripping up some very inconvenient stone stairs, (at which point she is half carried by Faxon) she pauses in front the event horizon and addresses her companion. "You know, this really is quite _pretty…" _and then suddenly the world is spinning in earnest and all she sees is darkness. The last sensation she has is falling into a cool, gel-like substance with the help of a firm hand on her back.


	2. Chapter 2 Medical Emergency

_**Chapter 2-Medical Emergency**_

Bright, fluorescent lights pierce her vision and a cacophony of urgent, concerned voices swim through her muddled brain. Parker groans and tries to roll her head away, causing instant, extreme nausea and dizziness. With a gasp she stops moving and focuses on simply lifting her eyelids; after a few seconds of straining she sees blurred concrete walls whizzing by, then her vision is obscured by the outline of a familiar figure.

"Hang on, Haley, I'm right here with you. Don't you die on me, Haley Parker, not from this little scratch, you have to hang on…you have to stay with me…" Reality fades again with the sound of another vaguely familiar voice yelling urgently…"BP's dropping, she's going into Defib, I need a crash cart _stat…"_

Voices penetrate her consciousness again, and the annoying fluorescent lights are back. Groggily, Parker opens her eyes a crack, testing. No pain. In fact, she realizes, there is no pain anywhere…and for some reason she finds this strange. She opens her eyes a little wider, trying to remember what happened, and where the hell she is. Before she can marshal her thoughts, however, the vaguely familiar voice is back, this time accompanied by the equally familiar body of Dr. Janet Frasier. Her smiling, sympathetic face fills Parker's limited vision as she checks her vitals discreetly, marking the numbers on her clipboard. At this point Parker surmises that she's in the infirmary at the SGC, though why is still rather fuzzy.

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant? Any pain?" Parker shakes her head slightly, marveling that it doesn't at the very least make her dizzy. She opens her mouth to ask what happened and finds both mouth and throat completely dry. She swallows, intending to try again, only to send herself into a nasty coughing fit. She mentally rolls her eyes at herself as Frasier speaks soothingly and sends a nurse for water.

"It's alright, just don't try to speak yet, we're getting you something to drink. Do you remember what happened? Just shake your head or nod." Parker shakes her head again and watches the doctor expectantly. "Ok, well just-"

A loud groan from somewhere to the side of the bed cuts her off, and both women look over. There, draped over both a stool and the neighboring bed, is Lieutenant Faxon, still in her dirty fatigues and looking like she hasn't slept in a week. As the girl slowly sits up and scrubs at her haggard face, Frasier watches her with a mixture of pity and amusement, whispering quietly to Parker. "She's been sitting there since you got out of surgery, refusing to leave your side for a minute. We actually had to have her forcefully removed from the OR when she brought you in here the other day."

"Parker!" Faxon leaps off the stool awkwardly and lunges for the bed, grabbing her friends hand. She offers her a tired grin, which Parker returns. "Told you it was just a scratch."

Just then a nurse walks in with a little paper cup of water, handing it over silently before leaving the way she came. As Parker accepts it and gulps gratefully, Doctor Frasier pats her gently on the leg. "I'll be back to check on you in a minute. Just take it easy while I'm gone." She throws a pointed look in Faxon's direction before walking out in a clatter of high heels.

Parker crushes the now empty cup in her fist as she turns back to Faxon. "How long was I out?" She winces at the croak of her voice and coughs just a little.

Faxon sighs, raises her brows, and looks at her ever-present watch. "Oh, I dunno, only about 30 hours," she says dryly. "That's not counting you waking up outside the gate room just long enough to scare the hell out of me. And everyone else. You flat lined when they were bringing you in."

Parker drops her head back against her pillow with a sigh. "Yes, I think I remember that, actually. And…the planet we went to. P3X-458?" Faxon nods. "The rest of SG-12..." This time Faxon shakes her head, sadly, and squeezes Parker's hand. Parker closes her eyes for a second, sighing again. "I'd sort of half hoped that part was a dream."

The two sit in silence for a moment, then Faxon lets go of her hand and sits up, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, on the bright side, the doc says you're going to make a full recovery. Once she patched your leg and got some blood back in you, you stabilized right up and you've been snoozing ever since." A huge yawn escapes her, drawing a grin from Parker. "Something I have _not _been doing for the past day or so, and something I plan to remedy immediately. So…I expect to see you in physical therapy by the time I wake up. That'll probably be some time next week." Parker snorts slightly, and Faxon lays a hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, though, I'm glad you're ok. You had me worried, Haley."

Parker covers her hand briefly with her own, and tries to smile reassuringly without tearing up. "Thanks, Abbie. For being here for me. And for getting me back here relatively in one piece. I owe you." With one last smile Faxon retrieves her hand and heads for her quarters with another yawn. Yawning herself, Parker settles in with a sigh, letting her eyelids droop and hoping her pain meds won't have worn off when she wakes. If Frasier did come back to check on her, she never noticed.


	3. Chapter 3 Rehab

_**Chapter 3-Rehab**_

"That's it, Lieutenant, just a few steps further, you're doing great." Haley Parker grinds her teeth and uses all of her self control to not say exactly what she's thinking about her physical therapist. Instead she uses her frustrated energy just to make it to the end of the bars; sweat drips down her forehead and she bites back a whimper of pain as she slowly adds weight to her injured leg. Her hands are white-knuckled where they grip the metal bars and her face is a mask of anguish when Abigail Faxon comes bounding cheerfully into the gym.

"Parker! I heard you were up and moving," The young Lieutenant leans easily against the nearest weight machine, looking energized, refreshed, and ready to go in her casual workout clothes.

"I think that depends on your definition of _moving,_" her friend mutters between clenched teeth. "Come to watch me suffer?" Parker pauses a second to size up the nurse babbling encouragements at the end of the walkway. _Nazi woman, I wonder if she's planning on letting me quit if I make it through this last run…_

"Absolutely! I could use the entertainment." Faxon grins wickedly at Parker's death glare. "Of course, I also missed my workout buddy, and thought maybe it'd be nice if I kept her company while she was doing rehab. You know, for motivational purposes." The petite young woman hops up and makes her way over to a nearby bench press, continuing to talk as she adds weights to the bar. "And then afterward, before this buddy of mine is locked up in the infirmary again, I thought maybe I could find a way to smuggle her into thecomissary for some decent food and better company. See, I happen to know from experience that infirmary food _sucks._"

Parker finally reaches the maddening nurse and slumps forward, exhaling forcefully. She makes it clear through her body language that she is done with walking for the day; the woman takes the hint.

"Alright, now if you think you can manage it, I want to try you on the leg press for a few reps and then you can relax." Inwardly, Parker sighs with relief, but to the nurse she only nods tiredly and accepts the offered crutches.

"This buddy of yours sounds pretty lucky. How are you planning on getting her past…certain obstacles?" Parker inclines her head slightly toward the nurse hovering over her every crutch.

Faxon just grins again as she lies down on the bench and grabs the bar above her. "Oh, I have a plan, never you worry." Parker grins in spite of herself as she's directed onto the leg press, and a few moments later all conversation gives way to the clang of machinery, the grunts and gasps of the weightlifters, and the quiet murmurings of Parker's therapist-nurse.

It's some time later when Parker collapses into a blue plastic chair, groaning loudly and whacking her crutches against the table. "What an evil, _evil _woman! When she said after the leg press I would get to 'relax', I thought she meant _quit!" _Her voice rises incredulously. "And she _knew_ it!"

Faxon rolls her eyes, finally out of sympathy for her drugged and whining friend. Squinting in the direction of the kitchen, she stands and calmly interrupts Parker's tirade. "What do you want to eat? I'll bring you a tray."

Parker sighs loudly, regains her composure, and twists in her seat to survey the hot food bar. "Umm…whatever mystery meat they've got over there, and…oh, I don't know, surprise me." She turns back around and promptly lays her head on the table, with her arms as a cushion. As Faxon moves away she calls without looking up. "And thank you!"

Faxon smiles and takes a place at the end of the line. The tall lanky man in front of her hands her a tray, and as soon as she places the familiar lisp with his name she strikes up a conversation.

Meanwhile, Parker starts to doze off on her mess table, succumbing to the potent combination of physical exhaustion and pain meds. She's drifting pleasantly between dreams and waking thoughts when a woman's voice drags her back to reality.

"Lieutenant Parker! I didn't know you'd been released."

Parker sits up groggily, and her eyes widen at the tall blonde woman standing next to her with a tray of blue jello. "Major Carter! Um, released…sure." She blinks a few times, trying to clear her mind.

"Mind if I sit?" She waits for Parker's confused nod before she slides into a seat across from her and picks up her spoon. "Yea, I didn't think Janet was going to let you go for at least another few days. She's been pretty worried about you." Carter looks up at Parker, mouth full of jello and blue eyes bright, and Parker finds herself blushing in embarrassment.

"Um…well technically…I haven't been. Released, that is. Lieutenant Faxon just sort of…smuggled me out for lunch. But I'm going right back!" Carter grins knowingly and casually takes another bite of jello. Parker frowns. "Wait. You know. That I'm not supposed to be out of the infirmary." Carter's grin widens. "Not funny, Major!"

Carter shrugs and confesses. "Janet sent me down here to see if I could locate a certain tall, lanky Lieutenant hobbling around on crutches." She waves a hand at Parker, indicating how easy the search was. Parker rolls her eyes. "She instructed me that, should I find you, I should bring you right back to the infirmary as quick as I could manage."

Before Parker can do more than open her mouth to protest, Faxon appears at the table, balancing two trays of food and looking very confused to find Parker sitting there chatting with Major Carter. She hadn't thought they were close; SG-12 had only worked with SG-1 a few times, mostly before the two Lieutenants joined the team. She glances questioningly at Parker, who shrugs, and then back to Carter, who stands to help her.

"Ah, Lieutenant Faxon," she says amiably, glancing inconspicuously at her nametag for confirmation. She smiles and takes the nearest tray off Faxon's hands, setting it in front of Parker before she sits back down. "I was told Lieutenant Parker would most likely be found in your company."

Faxon nods, still confused, and takes the seat one away from Carter's. Carter turns back to Parker as she finishes up her jello. "Anyway, I don't see why you can't go ahead and have lunch, since you're already here." She leans in conspiratorially. "I happen to know just how bad infirmary food is."

Parker smiles, relieved, and turns her attention to the tray in front of her. She suddenly realizes how incredibly hungry she is and is about to dig in with gusto when a man's voice calls across the cafeteria.

"Sam!" All three of the women at the table look up, and this time both Parker's and Faxon's eyes widen as the very attractive Dr. Daniel Jackson hurries over with a full tray. Without even glancing at the other members of the table, he plunks his tray down next to Carter, turns the chair toward her, and promptly forgets about his food.

"Sam, I think I've figured it out." He takes a deep breath and adjusts his glasses, preparing to launch into one of his infamous long-winded and barely intelligible explanations of some alien culture or other. "I was rereading the copies of the text we found in the temple on P3R-596, and I noticed that-"

"Oh, Daniel, you're not ruining Carter's lunch, are you?" The sarcastic and cynical voice belongs to none other than the tall, handsome, salt-and-pepper haired Colonel Jack O'Neill. He walks up to the table with Teal'c in tow. The huge black Jaffa nods impassively to Carter and Daniel and then seats himself silently across from Faxon. O'Neill takes the only remaining seat, next to Parker, with a casual smile. Parker tries to smile back, but it turns out much more confused and intimidated than friendly.

Daniel glares at Colonel O'Neill, exasperated. "Jack, I think this could be important. I noticed that-"

"Not while I'm eating, Daniel, please." To emphasize his point O'Neill takes a huge bite of mashed potatoes.

"_Jack-"_

The Colonel completely ignores Daniel, turning instead to a silently stunned Parker and offering a hand. "You know, I don't think I've officially had the pleasure." He smirks and announces importantly, "Colonel Jack O'Neil."

Parker grips his hand and tries to sound normal as she responds. "Lieutenant Haley Parker, sir."

"Oh, you're the Lieutenant who managed to escape Frasier's clutches!" Parker blushes again, but the Colonel continues blithely, "Well done!" He drops her hand suddenly to frown at Carter. "I thought you said you were off to go find her and take her back to the infirmary?"

Carter shrugs, smiling slightly. "She wanted lunch, sir."

"Ah." O'Neill nods in understanding and whispers to Parker. "Infirmary food." He shakes his head and makes a face.

While Colonel O'Neill and Parker are getting acquainted, so to speak, Daniel seems to realize for the first time that he doesn't know everyone at the table. He turns to his right and cocks his head at Faxon. "Um, hi." He sticks out his hand. "Daniel Jackson."

"Abbie Faxon. Uh, Lieutenant." Faxon cringes as soon as the words leave her mouth. She's just as unnerved by the company as Parker; SG-1 are something of heroes in the SGC, and, while friendly, tend to keep to themselves. Sitting down and having a casual lunch with them is something a little beyond the two young Lieutenants at this point.

Daniel smiles and raises a brow just a little at Faxon's flustered response. "Well, Lieutenant Abbie Faxon, I think your food is getting cold." He points to her tray, and Faxon looks at it in surprise.

"Oh! Right." She picks up a fork, but instead of eating glances at Parker again. It seems the Colonel has just given her similar advice; she's staring at her tray like someone slipped it in front of her when she wasn't looking. It's only a second before Parker glances up and meets Faxon's eyes. They're wearing the same deer in the headlights expression.

Suddenly Teal'c, who has been observing both conversations silently, deigns to introduce himself as well. He lays down his utensils and speaks in his slow, deep voice. "Lieutenant Faxon, Lieutenant Parker, I am Teal'c. I am honored to meet you." Both girls murmur 'nice to meet you, too' almost simultaneously, to which Teal'c raises a brow and nods formally. Now both Colonel O'Neill and Daniel look up from their food and toss casual introductions at the opposite girls, while Carter looks sort of like she missed something.

With the introductions taken care of, some more awkwardly than others, everyone gives their food their full attention. It's a good five minutes before Carter pipes up again.

"So you guys were members of SG-12, is that right?" Both girls nod solemnly.

Jacks looks up long enough to add his two cents. "Well, now you _are _SG-12.," he says, not unkindly.

"It must be hard. I can't imagine losing most of my team that way." She glances around at said team before giving both Lieutenants sympathetic looks. They both nod again and stare at their plates.

Noticing the now less-than-comfortable atmosphere, Daniel decides to change the subject by trying once again to share his findings. "So, you guys know those texts we found on P3R-596?" Jack groans, but Carter and Teal'c nod and Daniel ploughs on. "Well, I was rereading the copies I made when I noticed that something was missing. A whole century, in fact." He lays down his knife and fork and surveys they table triumphantly, gauging everyone's reactions. Apparently they aren't excited enough for his satisfaction. "I think someone removed all records for the time period from about a thousand years ago to 900 years ago." He pauses again.

"…_So?" _Jack waves his hands impatiently, trying to get Daniel to get to a point, if he has one.

"Jack, it was only _after_ the 100 years that are missing that the people on P3R-596 made their great technological advancements. Only _then _did they jump ahead of us in terms of technological evolution. And there is no way they made all that progress on their own."

"So you're saying they had help they didn't want anyone knowing about?" Carter frowns in thought. "Well, that's not so unusual…"

"No, I guess not, but to remove _all _records for 100 years!" Daniel shakes his head. "Something happened, and I'd very much like to know what."

"Daniel, _who cares!" _Jack gesticulates even more wildly in his exasperation. It seemsthishas beenanongoing arguement."They're trading us _unheard of_ amounts of Naquada for _medical supplies. _Medical supplies that we can afford to _spare._ Their historical skeletons are not our problem. I don't want to hear any more about your 'bad feelings'." With this O'Neill gathers up his empty tray and stalks off to put it in the bin. The discussion of the missing documents continues as if never interrupted.

"Sam, these people are descendants of yet another group of the Ancient Egyptians Raa took thousands of years ago. They're technological development was hampered for at least a couple thousand years by the Goa'uld, who used them as slaves to work their Naquada mines until the mines had been emptied. Then their so-called 'god', a Goa'uld named Montu for the Egyptian God of War, abandoned them. By the time those texts were recorded the mines may have been replenished, or new mines may have been created. But the people of that period were still too primitive to safely excavate the Naquada on their own. They couldn't have built new mines and they couldn't have used the old ones, not without help. And they certainly couldn't have developed such superior Naquada-based technology in 100 years." Daniel takes a deep breath and sits back in his chair, his point made.

"Did the people of P3R-596 not speak frequently of their 'Gifted' and 'Enlightened'? Perhaps they might know something." Teal'c tilts his head and raises a brow in query.

"Yes I thought the same thing, but so far I haven't found anyone who will point me in the direction of one of them. They all either can't or won't." Daniel falls silent for a second, contemplating, then grabs his tray. "I'm going to talk to Hammond."

"Daniel…" Carter's voice holds a definite note of reluctant warning, which Daniel studiously ignores.

"We need to know what happened, Sam. Remember the Aschen?" He raises a brow and Sam sighs, which he takes as acquiescence. He hurries off to dump his tray and express his concerns to General Hammond.

"I, too, must depart. The briefing is at 0800?" Sam nods tiredly and Teal'c stands, tray in hand, and nods solemnly to each woman individually. "I will see you then, Major Carter." He walks off in the same direction as Daniel and Jack.

Carter rubs her face and looks up to find Parker swaying slightly in her seat; she quickly jumps up and steadies her with a hand on her upper arm. "Time to get you back to Janet," she says quietly, and she gathers up the crutches leaning against the table.

Parker blinks at her, her face blank, and then allows herself to be helped up. "So that's what SG-1 is like," she says with a sigh, and Carter smiles.

"Yep, pretty much," she replies, and looks over at Faxon. "Can you grab the trays? I think I should hand deliver her back to the infirmary."

Faxon snaps out of her thoughts with a start, and takes a moment to register what Carter is asking. "What? Oh, yea, sure." She quickly stacks the three trays and wanders off, still thinking about the conversation. Carter shakes her head, and turns her attention back to helping Parker. It takes them nearly half an hour to make it safely back to the infirmary; they're both met with much scolding, before Doctor Frasier looks at Parker with concern. In no time Carter and Janet have her changed and back on a cot, tucked in and with an IV drip to ward of the burning pain steadily growing in her injured leg. Parker tries to thank them, and apologize, but their faces swim in front of her and her tongue feels far too heavy to move. Before she can remember how to open her mouth the pain meds take effect and she's dreaming about P3X-458.


	4. Chapter 4 Nightmares

_**Chapter 4-Nightmares**_

___Fire. Smoke chokes my lungs. The whistle of an incoming blast rings in my ears; I'm dropping before I hear Colonel Hewitt's yell._

_"Everybody DOWN!!" The blast hits. Heat presses me down as shards of sharp rock rain down all around me, peppering my skin with cuts and bruises. I sit up, blinking and coughing in the dust and debris. Dim shapes are closing in from the treeline; I open fire, driving them back, and then duck back behind the stone ruins. Another machine gun reports from somewhere to my right, and I crawl towards the sound. I hit something solid yet supple. Liquid stains my hands. Red liquid. I roll the body over quickly, heart thumping madly; it's heavier than I anticipate and I have to drop my weapon and heave. Blood and gore everywhere. Apparently the Colonel didn't take his own advice._

_"Sir?" My voice cracks as I check for a pulse. There is none. I fight back a gag as I rummage around his mutilated body, ripping his tags from his corpse before moving on._

_The machine gun fires again, followed by another in close proximity. I recognize Lt. Colonel Matthews' crouched form through the haze, and crawl over to join him._

_"You're in charge," I choke out._

_"What?!" He yells, not looking at me._

_"You're in CHARGE!" I call louder, and silently brandish Hewitt's tags at him before adding my fire to his._

_The color drains from his face and his P-90 stutters as his trigger finger slips. I silently pray that he's up to the task._

_"Right!" he barks. "Back to the 'Gate!!" Resuming fire, he relays the order as loudly as he can, hoping to reach the rest of the team._

_"Sir!" Lt. Faxon appears at a running crouch to join Matthews and I. She looks like hell; we all do. "Spizter and Halloway are dead." Horrified shock written all over her face. I hope most of the blood on her fatigues is theirs, not hers. Horrible, but true._

_Matthews pales a few more shades before his resolve tightens again. "To the 'Gate, ladies," he orders grimly. Don't stop for anything, do you hear me? Your job is to get home and report to Stargate Command." We hesitate. "That's an order!" His voice is sharp and we nod reluctantly. Suddenly, ridiculously, he grins. "Well you know I'm coming with you." I try to smile too, but the bile rising in the back of my throat distracts me. Matthews gestures and Faxon and I move back slowly, still firing into the masses of Jaffa crossing into the open field. Tiny stones and debris dig into my knees and my eyes sting; hitting targets is getting more difficult by the second. Faxon and I reach the edge of our meager cover and pause; Matthews turns to follow. Now we're running. Tree branches whip and grab at us as we struggle forward. One snaps across my cheek, leaving a burning welt just below my left eye. My breath is catching in my chest and time seems to stretch on and on and on in every direction and we just can't move fast enough. They're closing in. I hear them on three sides, but the 'Gate is nearby. And I think 'We're going to make it.' _

_And that's when they catch us in a crossfire. I'm almost a breath too slow to make it behind a tree; a blast blows wood chips and bark from the other side of the trunk and I can feel the sizzling heat through the back of my fatigues. Amidst the cries, staff blasts and machine gun fire a new and horrifying sound emerges. The keening scream of a dying man. He's lying feet from me, chest blistering and steaming, blood spurting from his surprised, gaping mouth._

"_MATTHEWS!" There's a note of desperation and hopelessness in my voice that I know he can hear; his wild, frightened eyes stare at me pleadingly as the life slowly dims in them. I'm _

_pinned down, I can't reach him. The only way I can move is forward, toward the 'Gate and home. I locate Faxon determinedly through the trees and signal her to move out. A last glance at Matthews reveals a lifeless corpse, dead with eyes wide open and shock on his young face. Faxon and I sprint all out for the ridge above the 'Gate, but my legs are like lead and time seems to slow…_

Haley sits bolt upright in the SGC infirmary, soaked in sweat and gasping. Pain lances up the length of her injured leg, burning as badly as the day she was shot. It takes her a moment to decipher her surroundings, but once she does she flops back against her pillows in exhaustion. A nightmare. Just a nightmare, she tries to comfort herself, but it isn't. Leave it to her mind to capture and record every horrifying detail of her team's last mission, and be kind enough to replay it for her every night while she slept.

She looks over at the clock Faxon brought her, trying to calm her racing heart and decide whether she should call a nurse or not. Almost 0800. SG1 had said they had a briefing at 0800, about P3R-596? She isn't sure. She wonders if Daniel was successful in convincing the General to let him look into the planet's mysteriously missing century…


	5. Chapter 5 0800 Briefing

_**Chapter 5-0800 Briefing**_

"So, General, basically what you're saying here is you're sending us to go snoop around in our potential business partners'…business…behind their backs, during a very delicate and potentially _very _rewarding negotiation?"

General Hammond shakes his head in wry amusement. "What I'm saying, Colonel, is that Dr. Jackson has raised some significant points about both the origins of the technology we're receiving, and about the motives of our new 'business partners' in sharing it with us. So I'm sending you all to quietly investigate it, _without _raising the suspicion of your hosts, so that we don't have a repeat of the Aschen incident. I thought you of all people would support that, given your view of the Aschen situation."

"But this time we actually have something these people want, something to trade for their technology. It's a totally different situation!" Jack gesticulates convincingly enough, but his voice is resigned. Sensing a victory, Hammond finalizes his decision.

"Take SG3 as back-up, you leave tomorrow morning at 01100." He leans forward to rise from his chair.

Jack stares at the table for a moment in thought. "How about SG12, sir?"

Hammond glances at him, surprised. "What about them, Colonel?"

"As backup, I mean."

"Jack, SG12 is half a team." Daniel sounds slightly incredulous.

"That's all we really need."

"A rather young and inexperienced half a team, sir." Sam adds.

Jack finally stands, exasperated. "Well how does one get experience, hmmm? I thought the whole point of this mission was to be inconspicuous, and what could be more non-threatening two wide-eyed rookies following us around and ogling our every move?"

Everyone glances around, unconvinced.

"Jack, Lieutenants Parker and Faxon were a last minute addition to what should have been a peaceful meet and greet with an already established ally," Hammond says carefully. "They were _unofficial_ members of SG12, really only with the team for training purposes. I don't know that they're up for joining SG1, especially not on a mission as…delicate as this."

"I know all of that, sir, and I disagree." Jack's voice is resolute.

Hammond shakes his head once more, this time with disbelief. "Well if you want to take responsibility for them, Colonel, then the remaining members of SG12 are now under your command. You all leave at 01100 tomorrow morning. Good luck." He leaves the room quickly, hoping to avoid any more surprises.

Both Daniel and Sam speak at the same time, staring at Jack in astonishment.

"Jack, what do you think you're doing??"

"Sir, do you really think that was wise?"

"AAAANGH! I don't want to hear it!" The Colonel covers his ears and strides out of the room, leaving the remaining members of his team in dumbfounded silence.

"So…what do you think all that was about?" Daniel ventures eventually.

"I don't know, but I hope he knows what he's doing."

"Indeed."

2


End file.
